The Lyons Share

I have had an awesome day today with the international man of mosses, Howard Matcham. I asked for a site for Prince of Wales Feather-moss and actually got 21 new species! That does not include the few that Howard is going to check, perhaps the best of all today's findings will come from that lot. We went to several places within Howard's patch, and I took well over 130 photos so I am going to split today's efforts into three posts.

First off was a narrow pathway known as Stane Street. Howard had recently come across some Wrinkled Peach fungi growing on their host, elm. In fact, within an area of about one square metre, I think I added four new species to my list.

Perhaps the least spectacular but by far the scarcest was this fungus, Jumillera cinerea. Howard found this and it is the only known site for this species...in Europe!

Next to that was fungus called Firerug Inkcap, yet another new species.

And finally another tiny little fungus called Creopus gelatinosus. I am currently on 3713, I have been edging ever closer to 3700 for weeks now, I have completely trounced it today. I will be writing the next instalment tomorrow about a particularly impressive moss covered wall and the day after that I will be telling how I'll never look at a conifer plantation in the same way again...